Map of My Heart

by John Porcellino

Never before have so few lines conveyed such a wealth of meaning as in John Porcellino’s quietly riveting book about memory, relationships, and selfhood. During a period of isolation following a divorce, Porcellino penned Map of My Heart , endowing it with the sensitivity and emotional depth so characteristic to his minimalist style. His tender drawings and spacious panels shape an autobiographical testimony where no moment is too small or insignificant for posterity. Pensive walks in the forest, encounters with rogue woodland creatures, school yard fights, zen meditations, long lost crushes, and childhood exploits are the heart of this therapeutic account of the ever-fleeting present.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Memoir, Nonfiction, Comix, Autobiography, Graphic Novels Comics

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

JOHN PORCELLINO was born in Chicago, in 1968, and has been writing, drawing, and publishing minicomics, comics, and graphic novels for over twenty-five years. His celebrated self-published series King-Cat Comics , begun in 1989, has inspired a generation of cartoonists. Diary of a Mosquito Abatement Man , a collection of King-Cat stories about Porcellino’s experiences as a pest control worker, won an Ignatz Award in 2005, and Perfect Example , first published in 2000, chronicles his struggles with depression as a teenager. Thoreau at Walden is a poetic expression of the great philosopher’s experience and ideals, and King-Cat Classix and Map of My Heart , published by Drawn and Quarterly, comprise the first two volumes of a comprehensive King-Cat history.

According to cartoonist Chris Ware, "John Porcellino's comics distill, in just a few lines and words, the feeling of simply being alive."

Reviews

[MariNaomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can see why people love John P. so much. His stories are like graphic haikus that make you happy to be alive.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be honest, this wasn't quite what I expected as I thought this was going to be a more of a succinct story of part of Parcellino's life, instead this pulls together Porcellino's previous works that cover this same period. Despite that I did still enjoy much of this book, more so the comic strips and poems rather than the longer stories. I did also enjoy the little factual snippets about the animals that featured in his stories and comics. Overall this felt quite laid back and philisophical with simple line drawn illustrations that supported the story but left plenty for the reader to fill in too.

[J.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Living in New York City is antithetical to where I feel I SHOULD live. Porcellino's comics are like a salve to the claustrophopic frenzied existence we endure in a big city.

[Chris Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first mini comics I ordered, in about 2003 I think, were from a wonderful page called USS Catastrophe which stocked a wide variety of different works by a huge variety of different artists and writers. Postage to the U.K. was still cheap (and the pound strong against the dollar) then so I would regularly order about thirty pounds worth of things on a whim and just immerse myself in this world I’d only recently discovered via a copy of Jeffrey Brown’s Clumsy falling on my head in Forbidden Planet Nottingham (which I took as a sign)

I was isolated and alone in Lincoln for much of my time there and would love to say comics gave me a way out of that, but they only did in as much as it became something vague for me to work towards. I’d already tried and failed to make a couple of fanzines, alone and in a vacuum, but here was a different way to articulate things and I found it profoundly moving and deeply thrilling. I was most impressed by Kevin Huizenga and his restless formal inventiveness, but King Cat was always part of those early orders

I don’t think I quite knew what it was about John Porcellino’s work that was so interesting to me - and it hadn’t started to really move me yet - but slowly and surely I became increasingly obsessed with them. I think it’s the way Porcellino finds profound beauty in the most mundane things and can boil them down to their essence and show them in a zen like fashion that’s the real appeal. Certainly when you see the early, scratchy and angry issues of King Cat it’s a real pleasure to see it develop into this beautiful, thoughtful and expressive way of seeing the world. Porcellino is brutally honest, but then again so are most autobiographical comic writers. What makes him stand out is that he is able to probe what he sees and what he does and find a way to express that in simple visual terms but incredibly complex emotional terms. It’s genuinely humbling to read these stories because it really is a master of the form who is able to articulate the beauty he sees in the world - and the pain - in such a straightforward but complex way

This book collects some of those early issues I ordered over twenty years ago, and so there’s a special frisson here as to my own creative world slowly but tentatively taking form, deeply influenced by these comics collected here. As with everything Porcellino creates it’s a work in progress, a life in progress really, but what a life and what a work. Incredible stuff

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between the years 1996 and 2001, John Porcellino moved several times, got married, got divorced, nearly died, experienced debilitating allergies, developed OCD and depression, and underwent a great loss, yet he still managed to produce several hundred pages of transcendent, beautiful, autobiographical comics that barely touch upon the pain in his life. Amazing.

[Jerome · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved reading this book. The art is simple but beautiful, the stories almost poetic, often observational. He has a way of appreciating and narrating the ordinary present, it’s an ability I think a lot of people struggle with (myself included)

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having recently read and enjoyed the volume of earlier King Cat comic, From Lone Mountain, I came in with high expectations but found myself somewhat let down. This volume just felt a bit more uneven, probably explained by the many ups and downs described by Porcellino in the book.

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my insomnia read over the last couple of months. I’d wake up in the middle of the night unable to fall back asleep and instead of fighting it, read John Porcellino’s stories. It wasn’t that they were so boring as to lull me back to sleep (I use my imagination for that), but they filled me with calm that acted as a balm to that late-night existential anxiety.

[Kerfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It was close to dusk, and everything was shining with that twilight glow, lit from within, alive....I stood there and felt my heart breaking"

I took this book out of the library because the title got my attention, and flipping through it, I liked the simplicity and clarity of the line drawings. I knew nothing about John Porcellino or his King-Cat comics, of which this a a compilation that covers the years 1996-2002.

He really does bare his heart, riding a roller coaster of emotions in these biographical vignettes. His life is disordered by illness, both mental and physical, and he grieves both lost time and lost relationships. But he never descends into self-pity, and keeps an openness to the natural world that is grounded in close observation. He pays attention.

There is also, mixed in with the wonder and confusion, a both an acceptance of vulnerability and a hopefulness to these stories that goes far to explain the continued popularity of King-Cat and all of Porcellino's work.

And that title--I mean to use it sometime when I find the right creation of my own that fits.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hit and miss, I preferred the comics and poetry to the written bits. A lot of zen influences throughout and oooh the cat sketches made me miss the family cat who died 2-3 years ago.

Quiet and reflective and you really have to pay a bit more attention. It's more of a collection of short stories than a closely knit narrative so go in without the expectation that all the pieces will knit together except as a collection of Porcellino's work.

Stuff happens, kinda like life :P

[Jmignault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deceptively simple. Featuring elegant linework and solidly structured stories, Porcellino's work is poignant without being sentimental and deeply sad without being maudlin. Highly recommended.

[Megan Kirby · Rating 5 out of 5]

all midwest natives need to hail john porcellino: the way he maps out the suburbs, the city, the stretches of prairie grass and parking lots. the way he blends beauty and loneliness and necessary quiet. the way sometimes an ear or a hand or a cat's tail will poke just barely out of the edge of a frame. the way i walked around Chicago after i finished this collection and thought of how beautiful my neighborhood is with its sidewalk cracks and streetlights, that i am lucky to be able to see it all.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really a fan of Porcellino's DIY stuff. Bad art, bad illustrated poetry, awkward confessional passages, and extended sequences of poorly drawn nature hikes just don't grab me. That said, it's an incredibly personal document of Porcellino's life and I can really understand why many people react to it so positively. It's very personal, and unlike anything else.

[Mickey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting a heartfelt story of love and loss of love, but was met with a pretentious publication with a lack of connection. Random scribblings and excerpts of the artist/author’s collection (I did enjoy the fact that these were recordings of his work) but with a lack of story and follow-through. This was, unfortunately, boring and uninteresting for me.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excerpts from King-Kat comics from the late 90s and early 2000s. Thoughtful and simple stories with more context for John Porcellino’s life at this time from notes and contemporary journal entries accompanying the collection. Beautiful to read but, as the collection goes on, it becomes increasingly evident that the author was having a tough time during this period!

[Michael Kitchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would read some of this and then think, "I think I can stop now." Then I'd read a little more, followed by that same feeling. At page 276 I decided to stop. Bits were pleasant. Bits were uninteresting.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

These little stories are more engaging and interesting than might be expected, probably because of Porcellino's simple and honest writing style. I'm not generally a fan of this type of art but it does suit the stories he's telling.

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 2 out of 5]

A shame that this wasn't for me. I wish I'd experienced what other reviewers did but the reading experience was too dire for me to properly appreciate the book.

The comics are so-so but the animal trivia was interesting. I found the content mostly boring and skipped chunks such as letters to the author. Mainly because the font is sooo tiny and text was all squashed together. Reading should not be stressful or tedious, especially for comic collections and graphic novels/memoirs. If anything, it should be inclusive.

I would have enjoyed this book more if the reading experience was more pleasant. Maybe I'll give it another shot when I'm in the right mood but then again, life is short.

👩🏻 cherreading mood: Quiet time in a library.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like his longer stories more than these snippets. But as always, the simple yet descriptive drawings and stories are still satisfying and enjoyable.

[Denisse · Rating 4 out of 5]

No leí con atención los textos, pero me encantaron los cómics.

[Dylan Razzell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm such a big fan of this book - JP's short stories focus on a feeling or otherwise fleeting moment - packed with emotion - can't recommend this enough

[Javier Gamarra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me, sorry.

[Maxe McRitchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

such heartwarming and poetic little comics 💗💗

[Susana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um
...
Unusual

[Tobias Hermansson · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh, lånade pga katter. Halvdana tidiningstripper på 360 sidor blir lätt långtradigt.

[Natalie Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long live King Cat!!

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comic memoir masterpiece. Simple art but so effective.

[Katrina B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This broke my heart and that's why it's good. Do you like cats? You'll like this even while it steps on your heart or uplifts it, in turns.

[Terrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this collection of comics and assorted bits.

[Yugvir Parhar · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty long graphic novel/ book but it was cute!